The women, who were both law enforcement officers in Florida, were coupled almost 10 years when one partner donated an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other. That woman gave birth in 2004.

Two years later, they split. The birth mother reportedly left the state without telling her ex. The woman who donated the egg – and calls herself the biological mother – hired a detective who tracked down the ex and the child in Australia.

A trial judge ruled for the birth mother and found the biological mom had no rights under Florida law. The custody battle over the 8-year-old girl is now before the state’s Supreme Court, which hasn’t said whether it will hear the case.